The Wyndham Orlando Resort is part of the Wyndham Rewards program. (Image: Wyndham)

In its latest annual study of hotel loyalty programs, WalletHub found significant differences in the value of rewards and the rules governing the plans. Which one is best for any given individual depends on which aspects of a program the traveler values most, and how much he or she spends on hotels in a year.

The company examined the loyalty programs of the 12 largest U.S. lodging groups, and scored them on 21 different metrics. Overall, it rated Wyndham Rewards as the best loyalty program for the third consecutive year.

Why? For one thing, “Wyndham Rewards offers the most redemption flexibility, allowing members to book award nights at consistent point values and without brand restrictions,” a WalletHub spokesperson said.

But other hotel companies’ programs have their own distinct advantages. For instance, the geographical coverage offered by Marriott Rewards is tops for international travelers, since it has participating properties in 126 nations. Hilton’s Honors plan has the most travel partners – 49 in all – making it the best program for pooling and transferring points, WalletHub said.

Source: WalletHub

In other categories, Best Western is the only chain whose points don’t expire when the loyalty member shows no account activity. And La Quinta members get the best return on their spending, with an average reward value of $13.65 per $100 spent.

On the other end of the scale, the Starwood Preferred Guest ranked 12th out of 12 in the value of its rewards (i.e., return on dollars spent), and in 11th place for the variety of redemption options.

The Wyndham Orlando Resort is part of the Wyndham Rewards program. (Image: Wyndham)

Want to get the best possible return on your hotel spending when you claim award stays in a loyalty program? According to a new study, you won’t get the best reward stay value from Hilton, InterContinental, Marriott or Starwood.

The second annual investigation from IdeaWorks Company and Switchfly found that loyalty program members get the best return from Wyndham’s Wyndham Rewards, which provided members an average reward stay return of 13.6 percent on their spending. “That’s a 143 percent higher return than the reward value provided by Starwood SPG, which was ranked last among the six hotel loyalty programs at 5.6 percent for reward payback,” the company said.

In a similar study it conducted a year ago, IdeaWorks only included Marriott, Starwood, Hilton and InterContinental Hotels Group. This year, it added Wyndham and Choice Hotels International.

And this year’s study was conducted in August – just before the Marriott/Starwood merger was finalized, and before Marriott announced that members of Marriott Rewards and Starwood Preferred Guest could link their loyalty accounts.

How did the company calculate a traveler’s award stay “return” on hotel spending? It conducted more than 1,300 reward stay requests across the six brands, recording the lowest point price for rewards and the corresponding dollar price of the room, adjusting for the different rates of point accrual in the various programs. Thus it came up with a percentage return on spending. (What this survey leaves out are the elite level perks that can greatly increase the perceived value of each program, especially in the eyes of business travelers.)

“For example, the 9% rate for Marriott Rewards represents average reward value payback of $9.00 for every $100 spent on hotel room rates,” the company said. “By comparison, IdeaWorks Company calculated that reward payback for major US airlines ranges from 3.1% to 7.9%.”

The report noted that these returns are only averages, and that the actual “payback” on award rooms can vary considerably depending on the property selected and the dates of stay, since room rates vary by demand while award prices generally remain the same. The best return the study found was a 39.1 percent rate for a December 10 stay at Wyndham’s NYC-The New Yorker hotel, where 15,000 points secured a room priced at $587 that night. The worst was a 2.0 percent return for a February 18 stay at Starwood’s Westin New York Grand Central, with 25,000 points required for a $253 room.

The company said it added Wyndham and Choice to the study this year to include brands that are heavy in “the economy end of the market,” vs. the higher-end products of Hilton, IHG, Marriott and Starwood.

“Consumers should be careful when choosing a program,” the company noted. “Choice has a very unusual and highly restrictive approach for availability and booking. General members can only book rewards 30 days in advance, or 60 days for hotels outside the US and Canada. Elite status provides a larger booking window up to 100 days in advance. And while Wyndham Grand (i.e., Wyndham’s high-end brand) was found to offer exceptional reward payback, the brand’s global footprint is limited to 30+ hotels in eight countries.”

The latest U.S. hotel openings include a moderately-priced (by local standards, anyway) property in the heart of San Francisco; a pair of new hotels in midtown Manhattan; an airport location in Boston; and a Marriott affiliate in Burbank.

In San Francisco, Hilton has cut the ribbon on the 174-room Hampton Inn by Hilton San Francisco Downtown/Convention Center. The newly-built property is at 942 Mission Street in the South of Market area, near the Westfield Mall and the MosconeConvention Center. Hilton’s first Hampton Inn in downtown San Francisco has free Wi-Fi, a pool/fitness center, 24-hour business center and a 24-hour food and beverage shop. Rates start at around $269.

Guest accommodations at the new 1 Hotel Central Park in New York. (Image: 1 Hotels)

In New York City, renowned hotelier Barry Sternlicht (he founded Starwood Hotels) has opened the first member of his new chain, called 1 Hotels. His new 1 Hotel Central Park sounds like it might be at 1 Central Park South, but it’s not; it’s at 1414 Avenue of the Americas, about a block from the park. The 229-room hotel is about as “green” as a building can be in Manhattan, with lots of wood and plants in the decor, and it meets LEED standards. Guests can ride Teslas within a 15-block radius, and rooms are equipped with tablets loaded with newspapers and magazines (to save trees from going to the paper mill). Rates begin around $350.

An outdoor terrace at the new TRYP by Wyndham Times Square. (Image: Wyndham)

Also in Manhattan, the former Best Western Plus President Hotel on West 48th Street between Broadway and Eighth Avenue has had a multi-million dollar overhaul and been reborn as the 336-room TRYP by Wyndham New York Times Square (not to be confused with the TRYP by Wyndham Times Square South on West 35th Street). All rooms have free high-speed Wi-Fi, and penthouse suites have balconies overlooking the midtown skyline. Rates start around $269.

The new Hilton Garden Inn at Boston’s Logan Airport. (Image: Hilton)

The newest lodging near Boston Logan Airport is a Hilton Garden Inn that just opened about a mile from the terminals. The 178-room hotel provides free Wi-Fi throughout, a 24-hour business center with remote printing capability, room service, breakfast/dinner restaurant and free on-site parking. Rates begin about $254.

Marriott’s new SpringHill Suites in Burbank. (Image: Marriott)

In the greater Los Angeles area, Marriott has added the new SpringHill Suites Los Angeles Burbank/Downtown, at 549 South San Fernando Blvd., about seven blocks from the BurbankTownCenter and close to the Interstate 5 Freeway. It has an outdoor pool, a fitness center, free Wi-Fi and free breakfast and a full-service bar. Rates start at about $169.

In overseas hotel developments, a London classic reopens; Starwood’s Luxury Collection adds a pair of properties, and so does Hilton’s Curio Collection; Marriott and Hyatt add China locations; Radisson debuts in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia; and Wyndham adds a Peruvian hotel.

One of London’s top five-star hotels, The Lanesborough, has reopened after an 18-month overhaul. The renovation of the 93-room hotel in Knightsbridge included all guest rooms and public areas, and gave the property a new restaurant called Celeste, offering French-inspired cuisine with British ingredients. Nightly rates at the Lanesborough begin at $1,100. Elsewhere in London, The former Hilton London Docklands Riverside along the Thames has been refurbished and rebranded as the DoubleTree by Hilton London Docklands. The 378-room DoubleTree is a short ferry ride across the river from Canary Wharf Pier; rates start around $280.

Seven historic buildings in the heart of Prague have been converted into the newly opened Augustine, a member of Starwood’s Luxury Collection. The 100-room property is within walking distance of Charles Bridge and Prague Castle. It’s the first Luxury Collection hotel in the Czech Republic. Rates start at about $350.

A room at the Reichshof Hamburg. (Image: Hilton)

In Germany, the renovated Reichshof Hamburg, an historic 278-room hotel across the street from Hamburg’s Central Railway Station, has opened as a member of Hilton’s Curio Collection — an affiliated group of independent properties that participate in Hilton’s reservations system and in HHonors. Rates begin around $175.

In the Middle East, the Carlson Rezidor Hotel Group has cut the ribbon on the Radisson Blu Plaza Hotel in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. The 112-room Radisson Blu is on King Abdullah Road close to the Al Andalus and Al Salam shopping malls. It has an outdoor pool, fitness center and all-day restaurant. Rates start around $180 a night.

Exterior view of the Sheraton Hyderabad. (Image: Starwood)

The newest hotel in the Indian city of Hyderabad is Starwood’s Sheraton Hyderabad, a renovation of an earlier property. The 272-room Sheraton is surrounded by the corporate offices of multinationals, and is close to the HITEX Exhibition Centre and the Hyderabad International Convention Centre. Rates start around $100.

Luxury accommodations at The Grand Mansion in Nanjing. (Image: Starwood)

Nanjing, the capital of China’s Jiangsu province, is the site of The Grand Mansion, a newly opened member of Starwood’s Luxury Collection. The 158-room hotel on Chanjiang Road near the Presidential Palace has 15 suites and a 3,000-volume library as well as a tea lounge and a Chinese restaurant. Opening rates start around $175. Elsewhere in China, the 311-room Zhuzhou Marriott has opened in the central business district of Zhuzhou, which is close to Changsha, the provincial capital of Hunan. And Hyatt cut the ribbon on the 330-room Hyatt Regency Wuhan Optics Valley, 45 minutes from Wuhan’s airport in Hubei Province.

A room at the Anselmo in Buenos Aires. (Image: Hilton)

In Argentina, the 50-room Anselmo Buenos Aires — built as a mansion in 1906 along Plaza Dorrego Square in the historic San Telmo neighborhood — has become a member of Hilton’s Curio Collection. Rates begin at $139. And in Peru, the newly-built, 144-room Wyndham Costa del Sol Lima has opened in the capital city. It’s close to a number of embassies, the financial district and the Real Plaza Salaverry shopping district. Rates begin at $127.

Don’t do this at the airport. We recently reported on a lawsuit filed by the ACLU that seeks to put an end to TSA’s controversial SPOT program — Screening of Passengers by Observation Techniques, in which TSA agents are trained to look for travelers exhibiting “suspicious” behaviors. Now a website called The Intercept has obtained a list of the specific behaviors that TSA agents are taught to watch for, like excessive yawning or throat-clearing, “widely open staring eyes,” or a face that appears “pale from recent shaving of beard.”Check out the list to see if you might be mistaken for a terrorist. Have you ever been singled out as “suspicious” by TSA personnel? Why?

Big Hilton HHonors bonus. The Hilton HHonors Surpass/Amex card is offering a fat 80,000 HHonors Bonus Points if you spend $3,000 within the first three months of membership. If you are a Hilton regular, this card is a good one with automatic HHonors Gold status, plus you earn 12 points per dollar spent at Hilton brands. Annual fee: $75. Details here

New lounges at Sea-Tac. Airport Lounge Development, which operates pay-per-use passenger retreats at several facilities, has opened a pair of them at Seattle-Tacoma International. An individual day pass to the facilities costs $35 (vs $50 at most major airline clubs), and the company also seeks out partnerships with international carriers who might want to offer the amenity to premium passengers. Known as ‘The Club,’ the Seattle locations are in Concourse A near Gate 11, and in the South Satellite near Gate 59. You’ll find similar clubs at seven other airports in the US (such as ATL, SJC), all with free snacks and beverages, Wi-Fi, workstations and showers.

Your CLEAR card will get you in the fast last at SF Giants games this season (Image: CLEAR)

CLEAR’s got game. After testing the concept last fall, airport trusted traveler company CLEAR will broaden its scope, setting up shop May 1 at the San Francisco Giants’ AT&T Park. Members will use biometric ID verification to gain expedited entry to the ballpark via a Fast Access lane located at the Willie Mays gate. (They will still be subject to bag checks, however.) CLEAR has identified major sports venues as a natural market for its product. (More on SFgate.) This spring, CLEAR says it will be adding service at Baltimore Washington and Miami International Airports. What do you think about CLEAR?

New entrance at ATL. Drivers heading for Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson’s domestic terminal can take advantage of a newly opened northbound entrance from Riverdale Road, made evident by a new 35-foot-tall sign. The new entrance means the previous airport access point from Riverdale Road, at the south end of Terminal Parkway, has been permanently closed. The change is made possible by the opening of the Riverdale Road-Airport Boulevard intersection. Airport officials said the change should mean safer trips for travelers by “eliminating short weaves and merges.” What’s more, “The improved roadways will also reduce congestion caused by traffic leaving the airport from the Rental Car Center and simplify airport access from Riverdale Road,” officials said.

Orange County OKs ride-sharing. Officials of southern California’s Orange County have approved passenger pick-ups by ride-sharing companies Uber and Wingz at John Wayne Airport. Both were due to start last week, under terms of a new agreement with the county that calls for the ride services to pay a fee of $2.25 per airport pick-up. Ride-sharing services were already allowed to drop off passengers at the airport, and Uber’s premium services like UberBLACK and UberSUV had been permitted to make pick-ups under a separate agreement.

Room service/minibar costs rated. You’ve finished a long day of meetings and just want to crash in your hotel room with a club sandwich. But how much are you willing to pay for that sandwich? How about $24.15? That’s the typical cost of a club sandwich delivered by room service at New York City hotels — the most expensive in the country, according to a new TripAdvisor survey. How about just a snack, like peanuts from the minibar? That’ll cost $12.78 in Boston. A nice minibar vodka cocktail? New York wins again, at $16.76. In Denver, by contrast, the club sandwich is $11.65 and the vodka $7.17. And everything costs a lot less at hotels in foreign destinations, the survey found. Readers: What’s the most you ever paid for a hotel room service order or a minibar selection?

Wyndham revamps Rewards. Wyndham Hotel Group, which has 7,650 properties worldwide across a number of brands, plans to launch a “re-imagined” version of its Wyndham Rewards loyalty program on May 11. The company said the “core features” of the new Wyndham rewards include earnings of 10 points per dollar spent or a minimum of 1,000 points per stay, whichever is more; “Go Free” awards that let members claim a free night for 15,000 points with no blackout dates; and “Go Fast” awards, which allow members to book a night for 3,000 points plus cash. For details, go to www.wyndhamrewards.com.

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